Reunited
by Rowi
Summary: What Chihiro goes through to see Haku again. Please read and review, it's a very sweet story.


~REUNITED~  
  
I do not own Spirited Away.  
  
******  
  
Chihiro strolled down a deserted counrty lane, surrounded by lovely blooming cherry blossoms. Soft pink petals fluttered down from the tree branches and blew across the dirt road in the wind. Chihiro knew that she shouldn't go back to the bath house of the spirits, but she didn't know anywhere else where she might find Haku, and it seemed like ages since that fateful day when they parted ways.  
  
She thought about Haku often. She thought about the perfect blue of his sharp, intelligent eyes and the peculiar softness of his thick black hair. Chihiro trotted down the road barefoot because her new sandals were giving her blisters, and she carried them in a small backpack along with some bottled water. She liked it this way, traveling without her shoes; she could feel the warm earth beneath her feet and the grass between her toes. It reminded her of when she had worked at the bath house, and while it hadn't been a pleasant experience at the time, she looked back on it now as a strange and wonderful adventure.  
  
Chihiro looked at her watch. It was three-thirty PM and she thought to herself happily that it wouldn't be long before she reached the eerie stone statue at the entrance to the Red Tunnel. She quickened her step, and hoped that she would be able to find Haku soon. She hadn't told anyone, not even her parents, about what had happened in the spirit city. If her parents didn't remember, there must have been a good reason, and she did not think it wise to anger the spirits by attracting more humans to the city.  
  
As Chihiro walked, she came to a fork in the road. She didn't remember this intersection, although many times she had secretly journeyed to the Red Tunnel , hoping to see Haku there. This time, though, she was planning on going in and searching for him. Chihiro rubbed her eyes and studied the fork in the road. Indeed, neither route looked familiar to heralthough just minutes ago she had felt absolutely certain of where she was.  
  
She sat down on the ground to think. Drinking a bottle of spring water, she gazed at the clouds rolling by overhead. They were beautifully sculpted, btight mountains of cream floating in the sky, and Chihiro felt that she could sit and watch them all day. But the whole time, she only thought on one thing: she wished that Haku was there to see it too. So she picked up her bag and decided to choose the road that seemed to travel more in the general direction of where she remembered the spirit city had been. She set off on the left fork, and although plagued by the fear that she was going the wrong way, felt relieved that now she was at least going somewhere instead of wallowing in indecisiveness.  
  
However, her fear began to take over as the sun dipped lower in the sky and she had still not yet reacked the Red Tunnel. The setting sun had caused the sky to turn a deep shade of purple. In the dim light it was getting harder to see the road, which had long since dwindled to a narrow path. Chihiro thought that her parents must be getting worried, and since she didn't know where she was going anyway, she decided to retrace her steps and go home. She would search for Haku another day.  
  
When she turned around, though, it seemed that the trail she was on split off in many directions. The ground was completely covered in leaves, and every tree looked exactly like the rest. It was then Chihiro admitted that she was totally and utterly lost.  
  
She tried to form a plan. She had traveled in basically a straight line ever since the fork in the road, so Chihiro decided to run through the woods back towards the road until she found it again. It waasn't a very good plan, however, and before long she had absolutely NO idea where she was or where she had come from. It was terribly dark, in the stillness between sunset and moonrise. The stars overhead were cold and distant, and for the first time, Chihiro felt terribly, terribly alone. Ahs fell down on her knees and brike down crying as icy cold raindrops hammered down on her skin and chilled her clear through to the bone.  
  
The cold rain was merciless and depressing as it poured down through the trees in sheets, forming puddles around the many roots. However, between her hot tears and the cold rain, Chihiro felt an odd sort of contented equalibrium. Despite the freezing weather, she felt warm and fuzzy. She didn't know why she felt this way, but she knew that, as her eyelids began to droop, sleep sounded really good to her.  
  
Just as she was about to fall asleep, a bright streak flashed across the sky. At first, she thought it was lightning, but she never heard any thunder. Then she saw it again. It seemed to be circling the area, and it was coming closer. Chihiro sat up in the mud, and tried to peer through the rain at the mysterious flying object. She lost sight of it after a few minutes, but then all of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder and nearly had a heart attack.  
  
"AIEEEE!!!" she shrieked, and spun around with miraculous speed. "Oh my." she whispered, "HAKU!"  
  
"I told you we'd meet again, why did you have to go off like that? You-" Haku stopped suddenly, for he noticed that Chihiro was crying.  
  
"OH, HAKU!" she sobbed, and shamelessly threw her arms around his neck, crying on his shoulder. After a few minutes she dried her eyes a little, and attempted to speak again. "Oh, Haku. now you've saved my life twice! I'll never be able to repay you!" She slumped down in his lap and sighed.  
  
Haku then helped Chihiro up, and they stood in silence for a minute as they watched the rain fall. Soon, the storm let up, and most of the raindrops were just dripping off leaves. Chihiro took a few steps, but Haku put his hand on her shoulder. She turned back around, and Haku closed the gap between them with a sweet kiss on Chihiro's lips. It was her first, and she blushed crimson.  
  
"Consider us even." Haku said, and he transformed back into a dragon and flew Chihiro home. 


End file.
